Lionfish in the Atlantic

[Europhyllia]

http://en.microcosmaquariumexplorer.com/wiki/Lionfish_Invasion_Spreads

I first read about this in Coral Magazine.
It's kind of scary. I wonder how (or if) this can be brought under control.

In the coral magazine article it also described how proficient the lionfishes hunted the native (and unsuspecting prey) and just how many fish they consumed in a short time span.

[Captain Jack]

I guess we'll just have to try adding more pacific predators to eat the lionfish. Which reminds me of and old lady who swallowed a fly.

[alton]

Back in the early 90's while fishing at Port Isabel with co-workers, one of them caught a porcipine puffer in the channel. Fish dumping has always been a problem, although mostly in freshwater saltwater dumping happens too.

[allan]

I read an article aways back concerning a team that was actively hunting the lionfish in those waters. Turning it into a sport.

[hobogato]

they are actually supposed to be pretty tasty :)

[allan]

I couldn't remember if I read that right or not. I think it alluded to the hunters taking their catch to a local food place to be prepared for a meal.

Seems like most poisonous animals are quite tasty though.

[corruption]

Yep -- its becoming the new delicacy in the Carribbean... they're abundant enough that its practically becoming a new staple diet :)

-Corruption

[bjgf15]

NOAA and other agencies are not oblivious to the fact that the best way to control/eliminate a species is to make it desirable for humans. So there has been effort from various agencies to promote recipes and preparation techniques targeted solely at lionfish in hopes that people will increase the catch rate of these invasive fish.

The problem is, as was stated in the article, that once a prolifically reproductive species such as this has established populations over a wide depth and geographic range it is essentially impossible to eliminate.

The thing I find most interesting about this particular invasion is how the lionfish are migrating southward. You see, the Gulf Stream is a very strong, massive current that travels south to north, thus it makes sense how juveniles make their way into places such as NJ and NY. But the fact that they have now been reported in the southern and western Caribbean (I’ve personally seen them in Belize) doesn’t make intuitive sense since the larvae are incapable of swimming against such a current and the adults are slow swimming, substrate tied species that do not make long ventures into open water.

[Bill S]

Check out:

www.lionfishhunter.com (http://www.lionfishunter.com)

[Kristy]

Fascinating example of how humans have muddied up the ecology and how changing one small thing has such a huge domino effect.

Ace, I bet this would be a GREAT topic for your HS students. It's really such a multi-faceted issue, paricularly with the migration that Brad is describing above.

[hobogato]

link no workie bill?

[hobogato]

yes, this is one of the things we talk about when we are on the topic of invasive species in my class.

[corruption]

Lake Victoria in Africa is another great example of how humans can muddle the waters -- its a bit of a converse situation though, as it was intentional for the sake of improving fishing enterprise.. Nile Perch were introduced into the lake, which have devastated the natural balance for 30 years.. only a few of the native species are remaning, and they are all undergoing visible evolution to the new conditions..

-Corruption

[Bill S]

link no workie bill?

If I could just spell... Should work now:

www.lionfishhunter.com.

Also, lots of discussions over here, from sailors down there:

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f19/lionfish-in-the-bahamas-32058.html

[allan]

I was just talking to a friend of mine about the snake head fish (forgot the actual name), and I've seen it in a few news articles throughout the years. Apparently this Asian fish was let go in a pond near the Potomac, now it is not only in the Potomac but several other large lakes and rivers. This fish actually can walk/crawl out of the water and invade other waterways.

[Bill S]

We used to sell them years ago. Along with clarius (sp) - walking catfish.

[justahobby]

Isn't that the fish that caused Park officials to dump poison in the Great Lakes two weeks ago?

[allan]

Isn't that the fish that caused Park officials to dump poison in the Great Lakes two weeks ago?

Don't know about that but I read one article where they dumped poison into a small pond/lake and killed everything to include the snake head. I couple years later is when they found them in the potomac.

[justahobby]

I'm thinking of Asian Carp

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/05/AR2009120502591.html

[Big_Pun]

i want to hunt envading lion fish now...kill kill kill

[Bill S]

I'm thinking of Asian Carp

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/05/AR2009120502591.html

Yeah, those are the ones that jump into your boat as you go by.

That's been a real big issue for people trying to transit their boats from the Great Lakes down the Mississippi. The Army Corps has a section of the waterway set up with shocking devices.

[justahobby]

What if you go overboard?

[Bill S]

Uh, you don't. HUGE warnings...

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f2/recreational-boaters-to-pay-for-being-towed-through-electric-jumping-carp-barrier-30743.html

[Europhyllia]

wow that video of the jumping carp is just crazy.